MOSCOW, February 13. /TASS/. Russia's special military operation in Ukraine is the only way to ensure a decent future for Ukrainians, Viktor Medvedchuk, former leader of the Opposition Platform — For Life party, which is banned in Ukraine, who now leads the Other Ukraine movement, has said.
"I support these military actions (special operation - TASS) because this is the only way for Russia to protect its national interests. And for me as a Ukrainian and for other ordinary Ukrainians, it is the only way to end the ideology of Nazism, which has been actively implemented, becoming Ukrainian state policy, to end the militarization of the country, which went from being neutral to turning into a Western battle ground against Russia. That is why such actions are the only right ones, and I believe that only by doing this can we ensure a normal future for Ukrainians," he said in an interview with France’s Omerta newspaper. The text of the interview in Russian is published on the website of the Other Ukraine movement.
Medvedchuk recalled the actual ethnocide that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has unleashed against the Russian-speaking population, history and the Russian language. "Contrary to the validity of the basic law, Zelensky infringes on the rights of Russian-speaking people, persecutes dissenters, saying that anyone who does not like this should go the way of 'suitcase - train station - Russia.' This cannot be how a normal society works," Medvedchuk said.
Speaking about Odessa, Kharkov, and Kiev, where the overwhelming number of the population speaks Russian, he noted that "the liberation of people both in these cities and in other areas of Ukraine is the key to protecting human rights." "This should be provided to them regardless of the circumstances," he noted.
Medvedchuk emphasized that it was Russia that wanted peace in Ukraine, but Western politicians actually deceived it both with the Minsk agreements, which, as it turned out, were necessary for the West to rearm Kiev, and with promises not to expand NATO to the east, as well as with many other actions. In fact, Russia was left with no other choice, he said.
"You sit down to play cards with a cheat, then you realize he's a cheat, and you hit him over the head with a candelabra. <...> How else can you counteract the fact that you are being deceived? And Russia has been lied to constantly lately. It's not good to fight, of course, but sometimes you just can't do it any other way," he concluded.